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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Mo' saics, Mo' beauty

Saturday
I resisted the urge to sleep in and instead woke up at the crack of
dawn to train to Ravenna, the city of mosaics, in the region of
Emilia-Romagna. I've been wanting to go since I lived in Bologna (when I
was geographically much closer) and now that my departure date is
approaching, I'm starting to find these destination goals ever more
pressing!

I
adore mosaics (but really, who doesn't?) and was thrilled to see so
many churches decorated with these tiniest fragments of glass that 1,500
years ago were magically transformed into glorious instructional pieces
of Byzantine art. The mosaics are built into centuries of Ravenna's
fascinating history as a crossroads where east met west.

My
first stop was the octagonal Arian Baptistry with an awe-inspiring
mosaic of Christ being baptized in the River Jordan, surrounded by the
12 apostles. Jesus is shockingly human (and quite naked in the
transparent waters) which exhibited his human rather than divine nature
(the main deviation point in Arian Christianity). Built in 526, it was
very controversial and considered heretic in its day.

Aside
from its mosaics, Ravenna is famous as the burial place of Dante
Alghieri, who was exiled from Florence and later died in Ravenna. There
continues a feud between the two cities to this day, as Florence
posthumously forgave Dante his transgressions and still wants his poetic
bones back. I was expecting a bit more pomp and circumstance for the
father of the unified Italian language, but at least the fence
surrounding the tomb's garden was pretty ornate.

The
most spectacular sight in the city is the Basilica di San Vitale, built
by Emperor Justinian in 540 as the Roman empire was falling. The
mosaics are overwhelming in their story-telling ability, with beautiful
scenes mostly from the old testament. I can just imagine priests
effectively using them to preach the bible to their illiterate
congregation. The art seems perfectly conserved and that in itself is
some kind of miracle.

Right
nearby San Vitale is the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, whose golden
mosaics literally twinkle in the sunlight emanating from the windows.
The most interesting scene was of St. Lawrence looking sprightly as he
prepares to be martyred on his flaming grill.

For a break from all the religiosity, I headed to lunch at a great place called Ristorante la Gardela, where I ate cappelletti in ragu
accompanied by a much-missed Sangiovese. After any Italian lunch, I
mostly feel sleepy on account of all the food, tipsy thanks to the wine,
and finally somewhat agitated as a result of the espresso. Then I'm
inflicted with the fear of a heart attack on account of mixing said wine
with said coffee. But mostly I'm just content with the ease of the
Italian dining process and the quality of the food, until I'm reminded
that soon I will be lunching with grab and go turkey sandwiches and
Caesar salads. Sigh.

After
my cultural philosophizing I jumped right back into my mosaics,
visiting the Archiepiscopal Museum (with the Chapel of Sant'Andrea), the
Neonian Baptistry, and the fantastic Basilica di Sant'Apollinare
Nuovo.

The Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo had
wonderful art, but it was harder to appreciate because everything was
very high up on the walls and dimly lit. One side of the basilica is
lined with a procession of virgins and the three kings (check out the fabulous pants) delivering gifts
to the Madonna and Child.

Later
in the afternoon I sat on the Piazza del Popolo drinking a coke and
reading my book until I got the itch to be more active (big mistake). I
checked out a too-big but free bike from the tourist office and
attempted to navigate my way through the town, without fail heading the
wrong direction down every one-way street, hitting every pothole, and
frightening hoards of people as I almost crashed into them and once even
a baby stroller, too. So after a very short while I returned the bike
and went shopping instead, where I bought a beautiful mosaic cross from a
local artist before heading back to the station.

It
was a colorful day, and this picture of me crashing on my (super cheap
regional) train is just to prove that I really was there, since I was
too focused on documenting the art to get any shots with my mug in them!

Travel Size Me

Back in the Bay after one year at l'Università di Bologna and two working for Georgetown at Villa Le Balze in Florence, I'm delighted and determined to make this American chapter in my life as blog-worthy as the last. And if some gelato sneaks its way in, well really I just can't help that.